John R. Elliot HERO Campaign 300 Race Picks
NASCAR Nationwide Series Betting Preview
Date and Time: Friday June 27th, 2014 7:45PM Eastern
Where: Kentucky Speedway
TV: ESPN
By:NASCAR Wagers, NASCAR Handicapping Service
Tonight’s John R. Elliot HERO Campaign 300 at Kentucky Speedway will feature one of the most stacked fields thus far in 2014 for the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Just among the Sprint Cup veterans entered into tonight’s event are the likes of Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson, and Paul Menard. Throw in a crop of talented Nationwide Series regulars like Chase Elliot, Regan Smith, Ty Dillon, Elliott Sadler along with a promising young driver in Ryan Blaney out of the Camping World Truck Series and we have a full mixed bag of talent that will be on full display at Kentucky Speedway later this evening. Let’s take a look at tonight’s race and give our insight towards our John R. Elliot HERO Campaign 300 race picks.
NASCAR Nationwide Series teams have had plenty of practice heading into tonight’s main event at Kentucky Speedway. Outside of two official practice sessions, teams also participated in two testing sessions earlier this week as well. In total, drivers have had nearly 8 hours of potential practice time from those 4 sessions combined. Needless to say, we have had plenty of information to observe as the week has progressed from lap times through both testing and practice sessions. One constant that has become clear throughout the week has been the emergence of the Richard Childress Racing cars in Ty Dillon, Paul Menard, and Brian Scott. The entire RCR brigade has been fast all week and may be worth a look as underdogs for tonight’s race. Let’s not forget that two weeks ago Paul Menard scored a Nationwide Series victory at Michigan and last week Brian Scott was battling for a win at Road America before having to back off to save fuel. Therefore these cars have been running extremely well in the past few weeks.
On the other end of the spectrum, Joe Gibbs Racing cars have not been particularly strong in this week’s sessions. JGR cars led by Kyle Busch are always heavy favorites in Nationwide Series competition. Not only has Matt Kenseth struggled to find speed in the #20 Resers Toyota but Rowdy has also struggled with the handling on his #54 Monster Energy Toyota. Obviously Busch is a threat anytime he suits up in Nationwide Series competition but from an odds perspective the risk may be too high for tonight’s overall favorite.
A couple of wildcards for tonight’s race includes Penske Racing teammates Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney. Keselowski is among the heavy favorites to score the victory which he has earned through his impressive Kentucky resume. Keselowski is the defending winner of this race and also has a 2nd win at Kentucky in the Nationwide Series stemming from the 2011 season. Teammate Ryan Blaney could be an upset pick tonight. Blaney has been fast and he won the fall Kentucky race in the Nationwide Series last year which is likely the reason Penske is fielding two cars in this week’s Nationwide Series race. Blaney’s win last year came in a field without any Sprint Cup veterans. However the young driver still has the equipment and talent to put himself in position for a repeat performance this evening. At fairly solid odds, he may just be worth a gamble.
Blaney is just one of several young drivers that could shake things up tonight. Guys like Chase Elliot and Trevor Bayne show some promising trends for tonight’s race. If you look at tracks with similar bumpy surfaces, Elliot’s driving style suits long green runs at Kentucky. Meanwhile, Bayne was very strong at Dover which is a track that shares the same GoodYear tire compounds as Kentucky Speedway. As a result, there are a number of guys that could potentially visit victory lane tonight but we think we have narrowed down the legit contenders that will outshine the competition this evening. Take a look at our John R. Elliot HERO Campaign 300 race picks:
John R. Elliot HERO Campaign 300 Race Picks
Brad Keselowski +350 (2 units)
Ryan Blaney +1500 (1 unit)
H2H Bets
Kyle Larson -102 over Matt Kenseth (3 units)
Kevin Harvick -130 over Paul Menard (2 units)
